A Day in Morocco

On Tuesday we drove to Tarifa, the southern-most point in Europe and took a ferry across the Straight of Gibraltar to Tangier, Morocco. I was surprised to discover that you can actually see Africa from the coast of Spain. In fact, the Straight is only eight miles wide and took just 35 minuets to cross.

Despite its physical proximity, as soon as we stepped off the ferry we knew that we were on a different continent. The Arabic signs, the women in kaftans, tile mosaics decorating doors, and minarets piercing the skyline all help to create the city's atmosphere.

We decided not to go on an organized tour, thinking that it wouldn't allow us to explore the Medina. Instead, we hired one of the guides outside the ferry port to show us around. Since there were six of us, including two guys, we figured there was safety in numbers and we were clear with him up front about where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. For a mere 3 Euros per person he navigated us through the narrow streets, took us to stores selling what we were interested in, showed us the Kasbah, and recommended a good place for lunch.

Shopping was the main activity of the trip, and it wasn't long before each one of us was negotiating like a local. The best tactic we found was to state your price, then walk out. Most of the time the shopkeeper would follow you to the street and finally relent.

Other highlights included seeing the snake charmers, visiting a traditional pharmacy that sold homeopathic spices, and eating lunch.